Background: Over recent decades, teacher aides (TAs) have had an increasing presence in mainstream classrooms internationally, providing vital support to students and teachers on a daily basis. Although the evolution of the role has given rise to many implicit and explicit shifts in TAs' responsibilities, opportunities for TAs to develop and shape…

Background: In the past decade, educational settings worldwide have experienced a significant increase in the number of school-based teaching assistants (TAs). The deployment of these TAs has been accompanied by reports of confusion and uncertainty about their roles and responsibilities within schools. While the need to reframe the role and…

Background: The increasing numbers of teaching assistants (TAs) and their widening role in English primary classrooms is part of wider international developments. Several large quantitative studies have been influential in shaping debate, but little qualitative research exists on TAs and the content of their activity in the key area of…

Interviews with 18 headteachers and 27 teachers and 4 school case studies in Northern Ireland found that teachers' role as managers and facilitators has increased, creating greater need for teacher aides. It is largely the teachers' responsibility to foster assistants' skills. In most schools, auxiliary support was concentrated on the youngest…

An increasing number of classroom assistants (also called teaching assistants and sometimes learning support assistants) are employed in schools throughout the UK, but their impact appears variable. This paper presents an evaluation of a local authority project which placed five additional classroom assistants (CAs) in three primary schools in…

The study examined the involvement of parents and other persons in the classroom. Eighty-six head teachers provided general information, and 82 teachers outlined involvement of others in their classrooms. Results indicate wide involvement, with parents involved in 87 percent of the classrooms, and others involved in all but one room. (CH)

Interviews with four teachers, one parent, one assistant, and two ancillary helpers found that classroom teams possess little structure with minimal role definition. Participants erect defenses against the lack of definition and use a process termed "fraternity" to get along with one another and camouflage uncertainties and tensions. (SK)